Hosea’s wife Gomer had gone and sold herself as a slave. Hosea found out that she had also been intimate with a number of other men along the way. God tells Hosea to “show love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raising cakes.” (Hosea 3:1) So he bought her back for fifteen shekels of silver and fifteen shekels worth of barley.

They’ve been home for a couple hours and Gomer sits there not knowing what to say or do. He pauses from his work when he hears her say his name, in this rasping broken voice. From the way she says it, it’s all he can do to keep from falling to pieces. Then for the first time in what seems like ages, he touches her. He lets her know that he’s in this thing for the long haul. At that moment, she knows that in his heart of hearts this old prophet really does love her.